Visiting Salgados Golf Course, golf enthusiasts accomplish two things at once. They not only get to play one of Albufeira’s finest courses but also experience nature in its full glory. That’s right, the golf course it located within a wildlife reserve. Not many could claim to have visited similar golf courses around the world.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get a glimpse of rare and endangered bird and wildlife species in their natural habitat. Thick vegetation, water bodies, and singing birds combine to give a unique experience to the tourists. Nature lovers will be glad to also know that the beach is just a few meters away. You can reach the beach by foot and enjoy the stunning sea view.
Enough of nature, let’s get back to golf. A short visit to Albufeira will not give you much time to fully enjoy both golf and nature. Spend a short period of time experiencing nature, and then shift focus right back to golf.
The golf course is close to the sea and there are numerous water bodies throughout the landscape. The Salgados is the perfect place to play if you want to enjoy links golf course in Algarve. At just 6080-meters, the course isn’t big. On most holes, the tee and green don’t have much separating them. Even so, the many water obstacles and the short size make this course very challenging to golfers.
The Salgados Golf Course is tough, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Want to play golf just for pleasure, start from the yellow tee markers. But, if you want to make the game challenging go for the white tee markers. Whatever tee you choose, keep in mind that accurate drives and a consistent game can pay rich dividends at the Salgados Golf Course. It goes without saying that links course demands a different strategy than the parkland courses.
Prior to planning a game strategy, it’s good to know that each half of the course has two par-3s (> 170-meters) and two par-5s (around 500-meters). Tourists wanting to play at the course must have a handicap of 28 (for men) and 36 (for ladies).
The Salgados was created by Pedro Vasconcelos and R.Muir-Graves and opened to the public in 1994. Later, in 2012, the management decided to renovate the golf course. Alvaro Mano, a prominent landscape architect, was hired to perform this important task. All 18-holes of the Salgados Golf Course were restructured and a large number of olive trees were planned.